Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday announced that he had travelled to meet soldiers holding the line against intensified Russian assaults near Kupiansk, a city Moscow claimed to have seized last month, a claim Kyiv firmly refutes.
Earlier in the day, Ukrainian officials reported that their forces had reclaimed two settlements in the northern part of Kharkiv region and forced Russian units to retreat from positions inside Kupiansk, a vital transport hub and one of the region’s most strategic cities.
Zelensky, dressed in protective gear, shared a video message on Telegram, praising the defenders he met during the visit. “Many Russians talked about Kupiansk, we can see. I was here, I congratulated the guys. Thanks to every unit, to everyone fighting here, to everyone destroying the occupier,” he said.
Although Zelensky did not reveal his precise location, AFP verified that he had been on a road leading into the southwestern outskirts of the city.
Later on Friday, the Khartia Battalion announced that Ukrainian troops had regained control of two communities situated north of Kupiansk. According to the unit, “Kindrashivka, Radkivka, and their outskirts have been liberated, as well as a number of neighbourhoods in northern Kupiansk,” a message posted online stated.
Russia had previously insisted it recaptured Kupiansk in late November, a city it originally occupied in 2022 before losing it during Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the autumn of that same year.
In recent months, Moscow has repeatedly promoted claims of progress on the battlefield, while Ukrainian forces find themselves stretched thin and struggling with ammunition shortages. Kyiv, however, has consistently rejected Russian assertions of large-scale breakthroughs, describing them as attempts to present a distorted narrative that Ukraine is on the verge of collapse, particularly as international negotiations intensify.
Zelensky addressed this issue on Thursday during a briefing with journalists, including AFP, noting that Russian information campaigns continue to distort the reality of the conflict. “Russians operate much more effectively in the information space than any of our partners and spread information that doesn’t reflect reality,” he said. “We have to refute outright nonsense.”
Russia has not declared the formal annexation of the Kharkiv region, where Kupiansk is located. Zelensky also suggested that the latest revision of a proposed US peace framework would require Russia to withdraw from these territories, while Ukraine may be expected to pull its forces out of the Donetsk region as part of broader concessions aimed at ending the nearly four-year war.
What You Should Know
Kupiansk remains one of the most strategically important battlegrounds in Ukraine’s northeast, serving as a key logistical corridor for military transport.
The renewed fighting comes amid escalating pressure from international partners pushing for negotiations to end the war. Zelensky’s frontline visit underscores Kyiv’s effort to counter Russian claims of sweeping advances and to reinforce troop morale as both political tensions and battlefield demands intensify.
The evolving US proposal for a potential settlement highlights the complex territorial compromises being discussed behind the scenes.
